In typical vehicles, a spare tire housing for housing a spare tire is provided at a rear floor in a vehicle body rear portion. When such a vehicle receives a load from a rear side, the front end of the spare tire moves forward, so that the spare tire housing, which houses the spare tire, is sometimes deformed forward, and it is also displaced forward. Because, in particular, a fuel tank is often arranged forward of the spare tire housing, the deformed spare tire housing may possibly come into contact with the fuel tank. Therefore, such deformation and displacement are unfavorable.
One possible countermeasure against such a possibility is to ensure sufficient space between the spare tire housing and a back panel at the vehicle body rear end, so that the load can be absorbed around the spare tire housing. In addition, in the case in which the fuel tank is arranged forward of the spare tire housing, another possible countermeasure is to ensure sufficient space between the spare tire housing and the fuel tank, so that the load can be absorbed around the spare tire housing. However, it is necessary to ensure space to arrange components other than the spare tire housing and the fuel tank. There are many limitations in the layout of body components as well. Therefore, in many cases, it is unlikely to be able to ensure sufficient space between the spare tire housing and the back panel on the vehicle body rear end, sufficient space between the spare tire housing and the fuel tank, and the like. Furthermore, if there is sufficient space between the spare tire housing and the back panel at the vehicle body rear end, sufficient space between the spare tire housing and the fuel tank, and the like are ensured, but there is a problem in that the vehicle body increases in size. This problem is more serious, in particular, for small vehicles.
In addition, when a load is applied to the vehicle from a rear side, the front end of the spare tire sometimes moves upward and forward. In this case, since rear seats are often arranged at locations forward of and above the spare tire housing, the front end of the spare tire may come into contact with the rear seats, and this is undesirable.
In this respect, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-316050 discloses a structure to prevent the forward displacement of a spare tire, the forward deformation, and displacement of a spare tire housing, as well as the contact of the spare tire housing with a fuel tank. In the structure, the spare tire is housed within the spare tire housing in an inclined orientation with a front side thereof arranged above the arrangement location of a fuel tank.
In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-276605 discloses a structure to prevent the forward displacement of a spare tire, the forward deformation, and displacement of a spare tire housing, and also to prevent the contact of the spare tire housing with a fuel tank, the upward and forward displacement of the front end of the spare tire, and the contact of the front end of the spare tire with rear seats. In the structure, the spare tire is housed within the spare tire housing in an inclined orientation with a front side thereof arranged above the arrangement location of a fuel tank, and a frangible portion is provided to a rear side of a spare tire bracket to which the center of the spare tire is to be attached. According to this structure, when a load is applied to the vehicle from a rear side, the spare tire bracket is bent on this frangible portion, and therefore the spare tire turns while further lifting up the front side thereof. As a result, the spare tire comes to incline more steeply.
Furthermore, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-179181 discloses a structure configured such that a spare tire is arranged within a spare tire housing in an inclined orientation while a front end thereof is down, and that a rear portion of the spare tire is tipped up to vertically turn around the front end of the spare tire toward a front side of the vehicle when receiving a load from a rear side of the vehicle. This reduces the load which the front end of the spare tire applies to a structure in front thereof.